You will need:
Paint Shop Pro
Animation Shop
Tube of choice - I'm using the fantastic work of Keith Garvey that can be purchased through My PSP Tubes
Impact Font
Preset - Here
Accents of choice
 

Put your preset in your preset folder.  Open a new canvas 600 x 500.  Flood fill with white.  Take your preset shape dbmmisc04, background colour black, foreground null, and drag out on your canvas.  Convert to raster.  Using your magic wand, set to Add, select each strip.  Selection/Modify/Expand by 2.  New layer, move below your preset shape, and flood fill with a gold gradient.  Select none and add a blurred drop shadow.

Now select your text tool, using font 'Impact', and the background the gold you used to border your preset.  Then write out the numbers 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.  Type the first number, line it up on the top bar, then Align, horizontal centre.  Then type 4, and position on the next bar down, and align.  Then the rest until you've covered each bar and they are aligned.  Convert to raster.  Next using the same font and colour, write HAPPY NEW YEAR, in the middle three bars, and do as you did with the numbers.  Convert to raster.  You should now have your white background, gold rectangle, black preset, numbers and text.

Add your tube, and give it a drop shadow of choice.  Then add your name and copyright.  This is your basic tag.  Add any extras you want to dress it up.  I'm going to be adding an animated champagne glass, so when I copy over my tag to animation I need to make it so that I everything is equal so that the champagne bubbles smoothly.

Okay, if you have everything you want on the tag, then have your 'Happy New Year' hidden, and everything in view.  With your countdown layer active, using your rectangle selection tool, select around 4 to 1.  Hit delete, select none.  Copy merged, and paste as a new animation in Animation Shop.  Back in PSP, undo until all the numbers appear but it's still selected.  Invert and hit delete, so the 5 vanishes.  Then select around the 3 to 1, and hit delete.  Select none, copy merged, and paste after current frame in Animation Shop.  Back in PSP, undo until the 4 to 1 appear bus still selected, invert and hit delete.  Repeat with all numbers.  Next hide the last number, unhide the 'Happy New Year', copy merged, and paste after current frame.  You should now have six frames in Animation Shop.

Now if like me you are using an animation on top, increase each frame a couple of times, and increase your add on to match, to give your countdown a slower count, and your add on the original motion it should have.  If you aren't adding anything, then just increase the frame properties to about 30.  Save as a gif.

Please feel free to link to this tutorial, and/or print it out for your own personal use, but DO NOT copy it in ANY way to put on-line, pass out, or re-write without my permission.  Any resemblance to any other tutorial like this is purely coincidental.   Thank you.  This tutorial was written on the 24th December 2007 by Faerie Queen.